Vertigo behind him, Nick Senzel ready to help Reds anywhere on the diamond

Cincinnati Reds prospect Nick Senzel is awarded the Sheldon "Chief" Bender Award as the organizations Minor League Player of the Year at Redsfest at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati Friday, December 1, 2017.
(Photo: The Enquirer/Meg Vogel)

As Nick Senzel stepped into the batter’s box for his first plate appearance of a Double-A game on August 24, he suddenly felt dizzy. Though he hit a single, it wound up being his final at-bat of the season.

For a week, Senzel and the Cincinnati Reds worked to identify the issue. Eventually, he was diagnosed with a case of vertigo and shut down for the rest of the year. It was an eye-raising end to the season for the Reds’ top overall prospect.

What caused the vertigo remains a bit of a mystery.

“It’s really just random,” Senzel said this weekend at RedsFest. “I think maybe something that may cause it is a jar to the head, but I don’t specifically remember getting hit by anything or my head getting hit hard.”

The 22-year-old infielder said he’s fine now and doesn’t expect a recurrence down the road. At the time, he worked with a physical therapist to alleviate his symptoms with some exercises on head positioning. Even if it does come back, Senzel is comforted by the fact that he knows how to identify his symptoms and how to treat them.

Now he can return his focus to what could well have been an equally dizzying ascension of the minor-league ladder. Senzel entered pro ball at the rookie-ball level after being drafted in June of 2016, and just more than a year later already had risen three more levels. It’s expected he’ll play in the majors at some point in 2018.

Just where on the diamond he’ll play is undetermined. Senzel has played only third base in the minors, and is the caliber of prospect who rarely is forced to change positions. But the Reds also have a young standout at third in the majors in converted shortstop Eugenio Suarez, whose groove they’d rather not disrupt with another position change.

The Reds have talked about trying Senzel at other positions in spring training, and Senzel already has begun preparing for it.

“I’ve already started to take reps in left, right, second and third,” he said. “I’m excited for the different opportunities.”

Second base may be the most obvious landing spot. The Reds have just two more years of control over incumbent starter Scooter Gennett, who might wind up a trade chip if he continues his breakout offensive performance of a year ago. As for the outfield, the Reds arguably already have more outfielders than they can feed.

Senzel also played second in high school and early in his collegiate career at Tennessee.

“It’s not foreign,” Senzel said. “I probably know third base a little bit better now, but I know second base."

Herrera healthy

Another player who will be considered for reps at second will be former top prospect Dilson Herrera, who will be returning from shoulder surgery. Herrera said he’s already swinging the bat and throwing from 75 feet, and is encouraged to have put his shoulder issues from the past two years behind him.

“This year was really terrible,” said Herrera, who hit just .264/.312/.397 in Triple-A in 2017. “I stopped because I have to be ready for my next 10 years. That’s why I made the decision to get the surgery.”

Herrera hasn’t taken a major-league at-bat since he was with the New York Mets in 2015, but will be forced to the majors next season because he’s exhausted all his minor-league options. The Reds have an infield mix that’s already settled even before Senzel’s potential contributions are considered, which means Herrera will have an uphill battle to carve out playing time.

The Reds have toyed with Herrera at third and manager Bryan Price said trying left field could be an option, but it’s hard to count on either as a viable position until Herrera has played them in spring training.

“He becomes a guy that can face some tough left-handed pitching when I want to give Scooter a day off,” Price said.